A total of 76 people, including a Winder man, were arrested for their part in a multi-state child pornography ring, law enforcement officials announced Friday.
John Clark Miller, 57, of Winder, a glass company technician, was among those arrested as part of Operation Southern Impact II, a coordinated effort between nine Internet Crimes Against Children task forces focused on people who possess and distribute child pornography and those who are sexually exploiting children in other ways using technology and the internet, according to a Georgia Bureau of Investigation news release.
Planning for the operation began in November and culminated in two days of investigative actions, including search warrant executions, undercover operations and arrests in Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia.
Thirteen children were rescued or identified as victims of the ring, the release said.
Those arrested ranged from ages 17-72. Some of their occupations included postal worker, nonprofit employee, small business owner, store clerk, mechanic, daycare administrator, pastor, construction worker and magician.
In Georgia, 34 people were arrested, ranging from ages 17-63. Some of their occupations included construction worker, truck driver, disc jockey, youth director and a restaurant worker.
Six of those arrested in Georgia traveled for the purpose of meeting and having sex with a minor. There was one arrest involving sextortion, a trend involving people who obtain sexually explicit photos of minors and then threaten or blackmail the victim for additional obscene images or videos. Investigators found instances in which arrested subjects, some of whom had no prior criminal history, were working in positions of trust or jobs where interaction with children is common, the release said.
Eight registered sex offenders were encountered in Georgia, during the course of this operation, four of whom were charged with new crimes related to child pornography while the others were charged with various compliance violations. There was an additional person who had an arrest for a prior sex offense but was not a registered sex offender. At least one foster parent with young children was arrested. There were also searches conducted where guns were found and illegal drugs were discovered, the release said.
In Georgia, a total of 38 search warrants were executed and 12 “knock and talks” were conducted during the operation. Law enforcement officers conducting the searches were looking for evidence of possession and distribution of child pornography using the internet as well as evidence of other child exploitation related crimes. Over the course of the operation, 196 digital devices were examined and 474 digital media and devices were seized as evidence, the release said.
The Barrow County Sheriff’s Office was among the numerous local, state and federal criminal justice agencies in Georgia that helped coordinate the operation.

Tripp Halstead, the toddler who was seriously injured when a tree limb fell on him at a Winder daycare in October 2012, and whose journey to recovery went viral around the country, has died. He was 7.
Halstead passed away at 5:47 p.m. Thursday from an infection. His mother, Stacy Halstead, posted an update late Thursday night to a Facebook page dedicated to Tripp and his story.
"There are no words to express how (her husband) Bill and I are feeling at this moment," she wrote. "We are beyond devastated and honestly I believe I am in shock. Our amazing, perfect, beautiful miracle of a son, Tripp Hughes Halstead, passed away at 5:47 p.m. (Wednesday). He was our whole world.
"We love you Trippadoo and you will never realize the impact you made on our lives."
Halstead, then 2, was outside the daycare on Oct. 29, 2012 when a tree limb fell on him. Halstead suffered a severe brain injury and spent several months recovering at an Atlanta hospital. His story and progress since the freak accident have been documented on the Facebook page called "Tripp Halstead Updates," which has 1.4 million "likes."
Thursday afternoon, Stacy Halstead posted an update to the page, saying Tripp had labored breathing when she woke him up for school.
"I got both of us ready and put the family on alert. As I was driving to the pediatrician’s office, I could tell Tripp was getting worse and I wasn’t sure I had enough oxygen in the tank I brought to make it to Atlanta especially in heavy traffic so we took a detour to (the) Athens ER," Stacy wrote. "We are here now waiting to be transported to Atlanta. The ER was very happy we brought him in. His oxygen levels were low and his CO2 levels were high so they have him on high flow oxygen and they did blood work, x rays and got an IV started.
"They said his left lung was Cloudy and it could be pneumonia or a mucus plug but since they don’t have a Peds ICU, they are sending us to (Children's Healthcare of Atlanta)."
Thursday evening, Bill Halstead told multiple media outlets Tripp had passed away. Stacy said the winter had been "brutal for him."
"I'm just so thankful he had the best summer ever," she said. "Jet skis, Disney World, the list is endless and that's when we got those amazing huge smiles."
Stacy thanked all of the page's "loyal and outstanding" followers.
"We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the past 5 1/2 years," she wrote. "You let us into your lives and you were there when we needed you the most."
See more in next week's edition of the Barrow News-Journal.